The correspondent of Turmush spoke with her through her daughter-in-law, Zhyldyz Babygulova.
S. Takyrbashova was born in 1932 in the Toguz-Toro district of the Jalal-Abad region. Having lost her parents at an early age, she was raised by relatives and grew up experiencing all the hardships of need. At 16, she married a resident of the village of Kara-Bürgon, Abdybek Kerimbaev. They lived together for 56 years. She has 7 children, 45 grandchildren, and 33 great-grandchildren.
She shared that she was the only daughter in her family.
“I will tell you how I got my name. I was the only daughter born to my parents when they were already of old age. They had no children before me. They really wanted a child and named me Sanambü. But affectionately, they called me not Sanambü, but Sanash. So this name stuck with me. Six months after my birth, my father died. When I was 6 years old, my mother passed away, so I grew up with relatives, looking into the eyes of the wives of older relatives. It was a time of need. Due to poverty, we collected ears of harvested grains in the fields, worked for the baies and manaps just to feed ourselves. We had a stone hand mill. We ground the collected ears on it and baked “kalama” (thin flatbread),” Sanash apa recounted.
She also recalled that at 16, she married the warehouse manager, who gave her a box of tomatoes.
“My childhood was spent in the difficult times of war. We experienced hunger and poverty. Once, while playing with friends, we saw tomatoes in the square and decided to take them. The warehouse manager caught us, and after some jokes, he gifted me a box of tomatoes and proposed that I become his wife. My husband and I moved to the village of Kosh-Döbö, and then in 1958 to Kara-Bürgon. There we worked in a collective farm and a state farm. Everyone worked for the state: I worked as an irrigator and achieved good harvests. Eventually, I became a deputy and was awarded the “Dańk” order,” Sanash said.
Sanash gave birth to 17 children, but 10 of them did not survive to adulthood.
“My husband and I lived together for 56 years. Out of the 17 children I gave birth to, 10 died in infancy. Four sons and three daughters grew up, started their own families, but unfortunately, many of them also passed away. Now I am left with only a son and a daughter. I live with them and feel grateful to God. I have 33 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren. I am sure that the health of an elderly person depends on care. My son and daughter-in-law take care of me, cook for me. I wish everyone peace and prosperity, and to the youth — health and a long life,” she concluded.
Zhyldyz, Sanash's daughter-in-law, noted that her mother-in-law feels well and maintains her vitality.
“In my mother-in-law's passport, her name is listed as Sanash, but she was originally called Sanambü. She worked in hard labor on the collective farm and state farm, irrigating the land, mowing hay, and collecting ears of grain. As a daughter-in-law, I can say that she was a hardworking person and loved working the land, growing apples, apricots, and vegetables.
She also had the abilities of a folk healer. She treated children and helped many people in our village. This may explain her good health. She never complains of ailments. Yesterday, on the holiday of Nowruz, she made sümülek and blessed us,” Zhyldyz added.
